With less than a half-dozen full-time activists, annual budgets of six figures or less, and umpteen thousand courageous, undaunted, and selfless volunteer parents, our community, held together with duct tape and bailing wire, is in the early to middle stages of bringing the U.S. vaccine program to its knees.

“Our study indicates that a disturbingly high proportion of parents [25%] continue to believe that some vaccines cause autism in otherwise healthy children.”

The same report went on to comment on the public health’s response to this “problem” so far:

“This finding indicates that current public health education campaigns on this issue have not been effective in allaying the concerns of many parents.”

Worse for pediatricians and public health officials than the 1 in 4 people who believe vaccines can cause “autism in healthy children” is the 54% of parents and 60% of moms who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, “I am concerned about serious adverse effects of vaccines.”

Community, prepare to take a bow, America is listening.

But, before you do, let me share some more data with you. When this study came out, the headlines were focused on the “1 in 4 believe vaccines cause autism” but nowhere in any of the press reports could I find any data on how attitudes have changed over time.

Taking a very different approach from the average journalist, I started doing some of my own research, and came across this study, Parental Vaccine Safety Concerns, Results from the National Immunization Survey, 2001-2002 .

I was floored.

I remember 2001-2002. My son was born in 2002. I’d barely heard of autism. I’d heard the faintest whispers about vaccines causing autism, but wrote it off as hippy-conspiracy stuff. Not surprisingly, the 2001-2002 report, unlike the 2009 report, does not even mention the word “autism.”

And, in 2001-2002, what percent of parents expressed any concerns about the safety of vaccines? Seven. 7%. Less than 10. Five plus two. A full 93% of parents said vaccines were “completely safe.” In fact, the 2001-2002 study was exceptionally proud of the “low prevalence of vaccine safety concerns.”

What a difference seven years has made. Folks, the U.S. vaccine program literally has its hair on fire. 56% of parents today are concerned about the serious adverse effects of vaccines, and 60% of moms. 56% of parents is an 8-fold, or 700% increase from 2001-2002.

Parents, you can now take a bow. It’s way worse than we thought.

Referring again to the 2009 Pediatrics report that “current public health education campaigns on this issue have not been effective,” I am pleased to lay the blame for that on four people: Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. David Gorski, Amanda Peet, and Ms. Alison Singer. The data clearly shows that the efforts of these four to stem the tide of public opinion away from vaccines has been a miserable failure.

To make my point for me, consider the LA Times reporting last week on the Special Masters ruling that injecting mercury into babies is some kind of wonderful:

“Commenting on the rulings, Dr. Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said in a news conference that the idea that vaccines or thimerosal cause autism "had its day in scientific court and was shown not to hold up. . . . The ruling clearly supported the science, fortunately." Offit, inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and author of five books on the vaccine controversy, is a strong proponent of vaccination and has been vilified by many parents.”

Hmm…invented a vaccine…vilified by parents…hey, wait a minute! (thanks, Kent, for the “idiot moment”).

Did Hollywood cast this guy as a villain? He’s perfect! Of course, Offit found Amanda Peet, who let the world know we were all parasites (anyone hear from her lately?). Go online to get the other side, and your likely to find Dr. Gorski’s blog, where a dozen anonymous commentators echo Dr. Gorski’s venomous invective – just the thing to build trust with a new mommy! The newest entrant, Ms. Peet’s replacement, is Ms. Singer, who looks like she stepped out of the morgue to take each interview and tell everyone that vaccines are safe and we all barely exist. Keep talking, Ms. Singer, keep Paul Offit on your board, and keep publicizing the “National Immunizations Conference” on your “autism science” website.

A message to our haters: it’s not working, you need a new plan. I think Paul Offit has slammed the door on the debate a half dozen times just this month. And, we’re still here, still telling the stories of what happened to our kids, with fully 60% of American moms damn worried about the downside of vaccines.

***

I have been called a lot of things in this debate, and I really don’t give a hoot. I know what happened to my son and I have heard many of the same stories from so many of you. Every time the other side just lies blatantly to try and make this debate go away, I smile. The more you over-reach, the easier it is for new moms to smell a rat, the less likely they are to trust you, and the closer the other side gets to having the walls cave in around them. The vaccine-autism debate has created a tinderbox for the U.S. vaccine program, and we’re really only one lit match away from bedlam.

This debate will not end the way the other side hopes. Their plan is to convince the media to stop reporting on the conflict and to keep adding vaccines to the schedule and keep getting 90%-plus of parents to comply. Simply seeing what happened with H1N1 and what is happening with HPV would tell any idiot that this is an unrealistic goal.

The other side needs a solution to this problem far more desperately than we do. Our community is finally mobilized. We have more money, more parents, more coordination, and more purpose than we ever have. Every day, a new, important person—unfortunately--joins our community and lends a hand.

Dr. Bernadine Healy has been right all along: real science needs to be done. Unvaccinated children must be objectively studied. Children who have regressed need to be looked at so that potential vulnerabilities can be identified. Caution and moderation need to be re-introduced to our vaccine schedule. I would advocate an immediate move to the current vaccine schedule of Denmark or Sweden with a far more cautious approach to vaccinating introduced: only one shot per visit, no shots while on antibiotics, delaying shots if any adverse reactions happen, etc.

There is a solution to this mess. As Jenny said, the genie is not going back in the bottle. The fear of vaccines is going to rise. Our community is only getting stronger. Who will step in to broker a truce? I really don’t know, but, mark my words, the results from the next survey will show that the trust continues to erode. Keep fighting, parents, America is really listening.

Comments

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Love the article and the comments posted.
I have always found it interesting when a parent decides they want to decline the jab, that pediatricians don't offer up titers for those that have been previoulsy immunized. They are so concerned for the safety and well being of our children. From my understanding and I may be incorrect here, immunity is obtained 90%of the time on one jab.
So, the parent that was concerned regarding the MMR, because they had only had one jab-I would ask for titers.

thanks Willie. Yeah, that's what pisses me off is that they have taken away the illnesses from CHILDREN (when the consequences appear to be more benign)and now they could get a disease as an adult which could be worse. It isn.t a good trade off in my mind. I sure as hell won't be giving my kids hep b or any other vaccines. I was only concerned about the mumps re. possible sterility. Thanks alot for answering.

First off I am a parent , I had the mumps as a child, I wish I had never vaccinated my children and they will never get another vaccine for anything.

Mumps is a self limiting viral infection caused from viruses in the paramyxovirus family which is the same family of viruses that produces the various influenza viruses.

Mumps is spread via coughing and aerosolization of secretions(saliva). The virus is very contagious and is found in every body secretion from CSF to urine, which can also spread it, to blood.

In children the classic presentation is parotid gland(salivary gland) inflammation usually unilateral called parotitis. After getting into lymphoid tissue like tonsils it spreads all over the body and goes to the brain, just like the vaccine, in about 15% of the patients. Hearing loss is rare and usually recovers but not completely in about 1 in 20,000 cases and I cannot confirm that number because it is from the CDC and that is simply not a trustworthy source.

Orchitis or testicular inflammation is rare in children much more common in adolescents and adults, is usually unilateral and typically does not result in infertitlity.

All of these chidhood xanthems are much more severe in adults than children. In the 1960's when I got the mumps almost all of the infected people were under 10 years of age. Now most are adolescents.

Mumps virus also infects the pancreas can cause pancreatitis and juvenile diabetes although the mad vaxxers decry any relationship there is an increase in diabetes after mumps outbreak and reinfection with mumps even after vaccination is not rare.

Patients infected as children typically have lifelong immunity.

My children will recieve no more vaccines. So I will tell you what I will do for them. Balanced diet including meat and eggs and fish, raw vegetable juicing and fruit juicing at least three times a week and preferably daily. A lot of prayer, love and attention. A well fed healthy rested happy child typically does ok.

OK OK, I have it!! According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke's website: Encephalopathy is a term for any diffuse disease of the brain that alters brain function or structure. Encephalopathy may be caused by infectious agent (bacteria, virus, or prion) metabolic or mitochondrial dysfunction, brain tumor or increased pressure in the skull, prolonged exposure to toxic elements (including solvents, drugs, radiation, paints, industrial chemical and certain metals), chronic progressive trauma, poor nutrition or lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain. THE HALLMARK OF ENCEPHALOPATHY IS AN ALTERED MENTAL STATE. Depending on the type and severity of encephalopathy, common neurological symptoms are: Progressive loss of memory and cognitive ability, subtle personality changes, inability to concentrate, lethargy, and progressive loss of consciousness. Other neurological symptoms may include myoclonus (involuntary twitching of a muscle or group of muscles) nystagmus (rapid, involuntary eye movement), tremor, muscle atrophy and weakness, dementia, seizures and LOSS OF ABILITY TO SWALLOW OR SPEAK. Blood tests, spinal fluid examination, imaging studies, electroencephalograms and other similar diagnostic studies may be used to differentiate the various causes of encephaolopathy.

I think our children have been misclassified. They should all have an encephalopathy diagnosis, perhaps the ICD9 codes should be used in conjuction with the "autism" diagnosis: 348.3 Encephalopathy, not elsewhere classified or 349.82 Toxic encephalopathy. By the way where is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke when it comes to all the tidal wave of children with autism?? Didn't they notice the obvious brain damage and encephalopathy going on in our children? What do they have to say?

Becky H-A, I totally concur with your point about the disservice the AAP and the pharma industry is doing in terms of public health. THey have really fucked up with trust and vaccinations. Many of the "safety studies" are crap, there is no regard for individual circumstances-premature babies, babies who may have allergies or immune vulnerabilities, they have added too many stupid, gratuitous ones to the schedule (like chicken pox and rota virus, hep b for babies!), dangerous ingredients (aluminum in Gardasil) and yet I still wonder if there may be some diseases for which I want my child protected. They really have fucked up. It reminds me of my oldest child's orthodontic treatment. In the middle somewhere I realized I had to kind of "micro-manage" it since the ortho was f'g up. One day I just had to say to him, "no!, sit her up (instead of lying her down in that ridiculous position) and just look at her. It doesn't look right." Of course it wasn't and he had to change his game plan. You like to think that these guys know what they are doing but it really is a bit of a guessing game. Even though with orthodontic they can ascertain things like jaw growth by looking at the size of the hands etc. they really don't do this in practice. Same with the vaccines. They have some ways to do it more safely, carefully but yet they don't tend to do this unless they are forced. It really is at a crisis point.

WILLIE: what do you recommend in terms of mumps protection for a boy (since they've taken away the real disease, he may get it later and I don't want the risk of sterilization, yet they don't seem to offer any single vaccines-just mumps).My son has only had one MMR. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Well done, JB! The more we hear people with vested interests -- money, power, position -- telling us to "move along, nothing to see here," the more we must question why they are telling us that flawed, incomplete, and clumsily manipulated "science" should close a debate. The only vested interest most of us have is our children. On behalf of those interests, we continue to question and demand the truth.

First off Keebler count me in the quarter that denies the 18th century evolution theory that even the theorist decried before his death as he turned to God. His theory was just a 4 centuries removed from the 14th century world is flat group.

Also count me in the group that says global warming is Horse Sh-- and the students paper it is based on, the emails that exposed the conspiracy of lies and the revelation that Al Gore used photos from a Hollyweird movie did not have anything to do with my firm conclusion. Anybody who is even remotely aware of the weather man/woman and the accuracy of their predictions clearly knows that the weather cannot be accurately predicted from Monday to Wednesday with any consistency therefore to take the word of these same people that the planet will be warmed significantly from CO2 from SUV'S and cars is beyond laughable. As any grade schooler can tell you the earth has more water than land, almost 72%, and the greatest emission of green house gases is from the ocean, God sort of planned it that way and you can take for granted that he is a wee bit smarter than you are ok genius.

Also Keebler the hysteria from people like you screaming that the glaciers are melting and that this will cause floods all over the world is nothing short of histrionics spawned by true ignorance, you see according to Archimedes principal, another high school physics tid bit, when an object displaces water, like ice does, even if it melts the water level does not rise because of the volume displaced by the ice is equal to it's volume when melted.

By the way, water is the ONLY substance that when solid is less dense than when it is a liquid. If this were not true then the plants in the bottom of lakes, rivers and oceans in cold areas would die and not make oxygen and the fish would die and then we would eventually die. Again God planned it that way and when you know everything because you actually created everything it works really well.

Finally the vaccine scam will come to an end. Physicians and surgeons everywhere outside of pediatrics and psychiatry are telling people not to vaccinate. I stand straight up and tall and look parents in the eye and tell them not to vaccinate and give them my card and tell them to tell their pediatrician to call me if he has the guts to.

I tell them all about Hep A, Hep B, Roto Virus and MMR and Polio. That is correct I tell them not to get the Polio Vaccine. I am a real doctor and I stand up on it and will discuss the vaccines with anybody and especially with a physician as I have never met one to date that knows the exact epidemiology, transmission and pathogenesis of these viruses and the conversations are usually quite short on their part as I expose their lack of knowledge and subject them to mockery and echoing laughter, that they all richly deserve.

Keebler you stick to making cookies and you will stay out of trouble and take most of all of these soft, weak and intellectually and ethically challenged pediatricians and psychiatrist with you.

After this scam comes to an end, and it most certainly will come to an end because ALL SCAMS COME TO AN END. I personally am hoping it is through mob violence so I can get my licks in. I am going to have all of these ass wipe fraudulent studies along with the pictures of the authors printed on toilette paper of my choice, with raised lettering( so it catches more fecal material when I clean myself) on double ply paper because I want to be real comfortable when these "peer reviewed" articles and their authors from Pediatrics, Elsevier the CDC and the New England journal of Medicine do their real job. I am certain they will be great at it and that this is what their true purpose in life is.

Well done JB and all other concerned US citizens, parents and families. The world is waking up at last to the concept of potential and actual vaccine damage.

JB says: 'I would advocate an immediate move to the current vaccine schedule of Denmark or Sweden with a far more cautious approach to vaccinating introduced: only one shot per visit, no shots while on antibiotics, delaying shots if any adverse reactions happen, etc.'

The Scottish Daily Mail published my letter on this same subject of advocating caution when administering vaccines. It is only common sense; so called 'herd immunity', means treating our precious children like cattle instead of individual human beings. Unfortunately, my letter was not published in the English or Welsh editions of the Mail.

Dr Wakefield only ever advocated caution until more PROPER CLINICAL research was carried out into MMR adverse reactions and a POSSIBLE link with bowel disease and autism.

Re Post by Dawn Richardson:
"Parents aren’t afraid – they just simply aren’t buying into the propaganda job by the “fear” slingers because no amount of “education” will undue the fact that just about everybody now knows somebody whose life has been irreparably harmed due to vaccine reactions."

Parents aren't "afraid" in the sense of the "illogical paranoid over-reaction" definition of fear that is falsely claimed by Vaccine Industry propaganda and their Hired Guns. But Yes, parents are genuinely AFRAID of their children suffering the horrors that have happened to our children caused by vaccines.

I can only do so much but I approach people with babies and young children at Walmart, the grocery store, or wherever else and hand out the vaccine flyer which is posted at NVIC. And my goal in speaking with other parents is to instill fear in them. If the statistics that I blab about and what happened to my grandson doesn't do the trick, then I tell them that the vaccine industry has NO LIABILITY and that there is no health insurance coverage to cover therapies, so they are risking not only their child's health and brain damage, but total financial ruin for the rest of thier lives. The mothers seem to be more receptive with fathers somewhat more "aloof", so this comment gets directed at the men if they seem like they aren't paying attention. And if that doesn't get their attention I then ask them, "Do you really want to risk having to move in with your parents, because this is what happened to my daughter?" If all else has failed this comment usually puts the fear in their eyes. (HA!! Whatever it takes!!!)

Yes, 25% of parents are now truly AFRAID of vaccines, and the other 75% need to learn the truth so that they can become AFRAID.

Nick's Mom #1, your description of "negative, venomous spittle" from vaccine injury deniers is right on the money. And if history repeats itself, vaccine policy makers will counterintuitively conclude from the Pediatrics report that they haven't lied, bullied or threatened parents enough. So much for product improvement.

"Of course, a quarter of the population actively denies evolution as well."

Well Cookie Man, I believe one of the cornerstones of "evolution" is the THEORY that nature SOMEHOW decides to "spontaneouly" build itself UP over time, and we SOMEHOW "evolve" to a more complicated state of being.

Look around you. "Wear and tear" (translation: breakdown) is the NATURAL state of being....we are DYING from the day we are born.

THAT is a fact, Jack.

Got Science? (translation: You better stick to milk and cookies -- more in line with your "scientific" observational skills)

Sorry if this is a repeat, I don't have time to read all the replies right now, but do you realize what this means:

"“Our study indicates that a disturbingly high proportion of parents [25%] continue to believe that some vaccines cause autism in otherwise healthy children.”"

read between the lines.

they are disturbed that 25% of parents think vaccines cause autism in OTHERWISE HEALTHY CHILDREN.

Is the next sentence, in their minds anyhow, "this is disturbing b/c we know vaccines only cause autism in unhealthy children"

It's just an interesting word choice, as if they want to point out that they are not talking about the Hannah P's out there.
--Though WE know kids who they might consider "otherwise healthy" ARE very sick at a genetic/ biochemistry level.

Those trying to discredit parents who have legitimate vaccine safety concerns mischaracterize parents as “being afraid” of vaccines. They use the term "fear" to try and mislead the public into thinking that these parental concerns are somehow irrational, trivial, or not based on credible information.

Vaccine evangelists have been hitting it hard falsely accusing educated and informed parents as being afraid of vaccines. You can do your own internet search for many examples, but you won’t want to miss where they pull out all of the stops in their Wired Magazine article An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.

The good news is, as this study (Parental Vaccine Safety Concerns in 2009) illustrates, it isn’t working and parents aren’t buying it.

Here is an example outside of vaccination for the benefit of those so enamored with vaccines that they can’t see their flaws and can’t comprehend what I am saying. I am not afraid of high fructose corn syrup or MSG. As an educated consumer, I choose not to feed these to myself or my family. Why? Because their performance for supporting health is not up to my standards. In other words, their benefits are not worth the risk.

The same applies to my view, and I firmly believe from experience, many other parents' views, on vaccines. Parents love their kids and want the best for them. If parents are losing confidence in vaccines, it is not because they are more afraid than they used to be. It is because they are becoming educated and informed, and the benefits claimed are not worth the risk of the harm the vaccines can cause.

Here’s the bottom line take home message to anyone who really wants to understand what is going on: the standards of the vaccine industry and the government regulatory bodies are not high enough for a growing number of educated parents. Thank GOD that we live in a country where parents who care about their children get to have higher safety standards than the government or vaccine industry.

Parents aren’t afraid – they just simply aren’t buying into the propaganda job by the “fear” slingers because no amount of “education” will undue the fact that just about everybody now knows somebody whose life has been irreparably harmed due to vaccine reactions. Bad vaccine reactions happen far too often.

That does not make parents afraid; it makes them know they want better for their children.

Here in Minnesota we have the ability for school districts to offer autism services to kids if they meet standards slightly less than DSM-IV, which is good because I do not think meurologists could keep up with the number of older kids (born before 2003) that are now showing symptoms of autism.

But becuase it is an educational diagnosis, we are told these kids are not really autistic, they just apparently get serrvices they don't need, or something implied like that. Most families can't afford the diagnosis, and it is important to note that any of those "higher functioning" kids, ones that might not have recieved an official diagnosis, still have significant deficts.

In Minnesota we have an average rate of 1 in 70 kids between 6 and 17 receiving services under the autism dignosis. This rate is based on easy to access information from the IDEA with the birth rates from Mn Vital Statistics being the denominator.

Boys in this age group are 1 in 38.

Yes, thats what I said, 1 in 38.

If the Minnesota Department of Health or the Minnesota media are alarmed, they are certainly keeping very quiet about it.

"Of course, a quarter of the population actively denies evolution as well.'

Posted by: Ernest Keebler

WOW - interesting comment.

Let's talk evolution!

Let's say we take 90% of the population and use a toxic metal that is a well known mutagen, capable of changing the expression of many genes and the enzymes they are responsible for (*) and inject it into as many babies as we can - starting Cira 1930 - and see what happens in 100 years.

* - (if you want specific citations, please ask!)

Well, we know that most of us parents recieived at least a few vaccines with mercury when we were kids. Now our own kids are exposed to mercury and other toxins at levels many times higher and much sooner in life (especially in eutero) and we are not considering the effect on future generations????

I think there is a great scince fiction novel just waiting to be written about the future of the human race, 100 years after the introduction of 80,000 new chemicals and their unknown and never considered combinations. A world where our offspring are those who tolerate, detoxify or die. A world where thimerosal is the actual ANTIGEN - That it's inclusion in vaccines is actually meant to ferret out those whose bodies are "inferior" - too weak to tolerate the oncoming increase in environmental mercury exposure.

I question if we want this to remain truly fiction, or do we want to recognize we may be heading in that direction?

Here's my simple question, they don't find the rise in autism disturbing in the least? That a "genetic" disorder has risen over two thousand percent? AAP, you have your heads in the sand, and or, you maybe are running into the "scared shitless" category, because finally, finally, you are being found out for what you are, an organization tied to pharmaceutical interests, non copability, and frankly, your afraid that most parents will forego vaccines and walk over to a naturopath, and really show you, that unvaccinated children don't get autism, and, the vaccinated do. Look at Dr Einsteins practice, thousands upond thousands, and no autism? You are being found out, don't look at that man behind the curtain, well guess what, toto has unraveled your world, and I hope they do with impunity.

I welcome the news that so many parents now are more aware of the risks of vaccination! But I worry that with the gov't-pushed suppression of information in the media and the lack of funding/blockage of scientific studies properly designed to examine these risks, most parents will continue to be in the dark regarding how our overburdened AAP schedule (started on day 1 of life without regard to weight/gestational age/or health status at time of vaccination) coupled with poor vaccine design for some vaccines is exponentially compounding these small risks to a very giant unacceptable level. The reason I worry is that while most vaccines in the current schedule are for the “convenience” of avoiding an irritating, self-limiting illness that could result in lost parental work time (trading “convenience” for a heightened chance for developing life long chronic auto-immune mediated diseases), a few vaccines are very important to reduce potential of acquiring serious, life threatening infections. Without allowing for meaningful study and discussion of schedule and design, our health officials’ unwavering stance to push the AAP schedule complete with its vaccine design flaws isn’t just harming the kids of the obedient sheep, but setting up for potential of serious harm from infectious disease in all those whose parents are scared off and boycott vaccination altogether. And so, it is our officials fault for harming our kids with their unstudied, pushed schedule. And it will be our health officials fault for the inevitable future serious injury/deaths from infectious outbreaks that will occur among handfuls of completely unvaccinated kids, among adults whose immunity has waned, and among fully-vaxed kids who because of the one-size (doesn’t) fit all schedule never developed proper immunity.

yeah, my kids are older now and I chose to partially vaccinate but a poster to another article at AoA mentioned a really aggressive/dismissive "expert" admonishing a new mom for worrying about her baby's temp and sniffles after their MMR. If that's the way doctors,nurses are talking to parents (and I remember that tantrumy Dr. on the show The Doctors) then no wonder the parents are turning to all sources of information. Their anger is working against them and that's too damned bad.

Another excellent post, J.B. - thank you! We ARE winning this war of truth, one person at a time.

At my son's OT appointment on Monday, one of the other therapists asked if I would answer a couple of questions (knowing that my son was vaccine-injured). One hour later, we were still talking, and she had taken several small pages of notes. Both of her daughters just had babies, and are desperate for the truth about vaccine safety (or lack thereof).

They had already talked to their doctors, and had read up extensively on the subject. But they (and their mother) knew they were still not getting the whole truth.

Here's to the "umpteen thousand courageous, undaunted, and selfless volunteer parents..." who grab every opportunity to educate people on this subject. Our experiences carry more weight than anything mainstream medicine has to offer, and other parents know that.

Thanks for the big picture JB. It reminds me that we are getting somewhere. I think the number of parents refusing to vaccinated their kids is far higher than the CC admits. The present system is incapable of change. It wil only change when it collapses, like the Soviet Union. When 25% plus of moms just say no it's over for them. Not that that will do our children any good but it will stem the violence being done.

Thank you JB! Let us all take heart from this. WE ARE BRINGING DOWN THE LIES!
Every time we send an email to a news site. Every time we post a comment on a story,
Every time we talk to a neighbor,
we are getting the truth out and waking this country up to the damage vaccines have done to a generation of children.

Why do you think this is the biggest controversy in medicine?
Why do pediatricians have to tell parents over and over that they're not going to harm their children when they immunize them?
Why are so many people worried about vaccines?
Why does Paul Offit show up in endless news reports saying the science is settled---but it never is?
Why does the controversy only get worse despite the endless denials from the medical community, the media, and the CDC?

The next step is when parents "vote with their pocketbooks" It's one thing for 1 in 4 people to suspect vaccines cause autism and quite another for them to go against their doctor's advice and stop paying for vaccines or participating in free clinics. Only when people reject the recommendations will the "autism community" get their due respect.

Thank you JB and all of the warrior parents who put themselves out there in the public's eye to teach the world about the terrible injustice that has been perpetrated against our children, with a warning for theirs.

The public health sector is scratching their heads over why their efforts to rescue the vaccination program are failing and why our efforts have gained so much ground. When one considers the increasing numbers of vaccine injured, brain-damaged children and the increasing numbers of people who witnessed this damage (family, friends, neighbors) our efforts are multiplied. People became convinced even more when they saw how hard we have to work and the unbelievable sacrifices we have to make to help our children because most doctors have turned their backs on our obviously sick children and withheld medical treatment. The CDC, AAP etc can't compensate anymore by relying on their professional reputations. Doctors created this environment of suspicion and distrust. They traded their trust and reputations to protect a product over a child. Instead, they could have been heroes.

The choice has become between 1) having your child vaccinated and being abandoned by your doctor to watch your child suffer horribly or die when he/she has a severe adverse reaction or 2)choosing to not vaccinate and having access to medical treatment when your child gets sick and being treated with interest and compassion.

I was naive about the doctor/patient relationship. Knowing what I know now, I know what choice I'd have made differently.

Earnest Keebler-- not the same quarter of the population though. The diversity among people who believe vaccines cause autism is a red flag in itself-- not all vote the same, believe in the same Gods or any at all. We come from all walks. Please go back to your home tree. http://www.keebler.com/#

Sadly, as long as the Vaccine Holy Warriors continue to practice Ego-based Medicine, this will continue. I say let them continue to dig their own graves. Dorkski has done more to damage his own credibility than any of us possibly could.

MW,
So great you got your letter published in Pediatrics!!! The more exposure in "mainstream outlets" the better, especially coming from "credible professionals". Unfortunately, if you're "just a parent" your views aren't taken as seriously. I'm a physical therapist, but it doesn't help much when talking to pediatricians (if I were an MD or researcher with a PhD, I would be better received). We all need to keep the attention on this extremely important issue. We aren't going away. Eventually, they will need to deal with the mess they've created, and help all these kids!

@Ernest Keebler: No pregnant woman today would even consider taking thalidomide because they (now) know how dangerous it is TO SOME. (Remember, everyone who took thalidomide didn't end up with a damaged child.) But even if ONE is injured unnecessarily, the precaution is reasonable. Why, knowing that some children are killed or injured by vaccines, is the snarky comment about anti-evolutionists relavent?

I would be very surprised if the Supreme Court did the right thing this time. I think their vote to allow unlimited corporate campaign contributions-- despite 80% of the public being dead against such a move-- was a preview. And I think there will be even less dissent on this.

But unless martial law is enacted forcing compliance to whatever vaccine they come up for next year's "what-the-f***-pandemic" scare, the public is less and less likely to go along with it. Pharma's going to have to concoct, say, a new strain of measles and seed the wind with it from light planes in some kind of dystopian paranoid nightmare maneuver if they want to drum up a repeat of last year's pandemic panic. The public is getting inured.

I think vaccine makers, the pharma lobby and its pet regulatory agencies can stand up and take a bow for wrecking public trust in the very concept of vaccines and in the health authorities. With all the money, time and aggression that was spent trying to crush dissent, some enterprising group of scientists could have come up with safer, cleaner vaccine technology by now. Instead the public has little to turn to as a true alternative.

So I agree with Ginger that we're going to have to get serious about defending civil rights while trying to put forward positive options to the current vaccine schedule as a way to corral health authorities and industry into a better direction.http://www.AmericanPersonalRights.org

JB, Thank you! I have spent the last NINE years of blood, sweat and tears trying to recover my son from the fateful day in November 2001 when he received 8 vaccines in one day. Within 2 weeks he stopped smiling, looking at us, talking, and started having explosive diarrhea and head banging. No doctor would believe us. Nobody could offer help or solutions. The past NINE years have included a lot of self education, reading books, seeing doctors who were practicing autism medicine underground for fear of losing their license, and the biggest lack of acknowledgement that I have ever witnessed in my lifetime by our government, AMA, AAP and CDC that does not want to deal with this tidal wave for fear it will cause the public to stop vaccinating altogether. I cannot even imagine how much time and money has been spent by them trying to restore public confidence in vaccines. But now, in addition to autism we have AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF SICK KIDS: ADD/ADHD, allergies, asthma, schizophrenia, dyslexia, childhood cancer, diabetes. 1 in 3 American children are sick. Are they listening? Maybe. Are they creating strategic imperatives? Well if you call IACC and NVAC strategic committees, then yes. Are they linking strategic imperatives to critical actions? No! I honestly don't think many of our government officials would survive a day in the corporate world where if they don't get results they get fired.

JB, when I was listening to my every-weekend chelated "autistic" child blabber on the other day, I got tears in my eyes, thinking that if I hadn't read Jenny's book, who knows if I'd be hearing this...

Then I realized that behind Jenny, there was another hero--you, my dear.

PRIORITIES Pharmaceutical Lobby spends Seven Hundred Twenty One Thousand Five Hundred & Eighty Three Dollars a DAY... Or put another way... $263,377,975 a year just to buy votes... $30,000,000 went just to influence elections in 2008... I wonder what the entire budget of Parent Autism Advocates is.... Mine is 5 cents... oh wait that probably should go to my past due mortgage... Smiles.

What's amazing is my letter was published on March 1 and no pediatrican has refuted what I had to say. If you cannot get access to Pediatrics, here is the letter copy and pasted.

Honesty is the Best Policy 1 March 2010

Michael F. Wagnitz,
Metals Analysis Chemist

It's now been more than 10 years since I first became involved with the issue of vaccine safety. When I first tested a multi-dose vaccine vial and found the concentration of mercury in excess of EPA liquid hazardous waste levels by a factor of 250, I was just shocked. One of the vials I've seen tested contained 270,000 micrograms (mcg) per liter mercury, a level 1,350 times higher than hazardous waste levels. Where's the FDA?

What's even more shocking is the fact that ethylmercury, the type found in vaccines, is much more toxic than methylmercury. Why? Both of these short chain alkyl mercury compounds are equally distributed to the brain. Once in the brain, the more unstable ethylmercury compound rapidly converts to Hg++ which remains permanently trapped and has been identified as the form of mercury most responsible for degenerative brain diseases. In addition, injection via the muscle provides rapid access to the bloodstream.

This brings me to another vaccine ingredient, aluminum. In a 1996 policy statement, "Aluminum Toxicity in Infants and Children", The American Academy of Pediatrics states, "Aluminum can cause neurological harm. People who build up bloodstream levels of aluminum greater than 100 mcg per liter are at risk of toxicity. The toxic threshold of aluminum in the bloodstream may be lower than 100 mcg per liter."

So let's say an infant receives 1250 micrograms at 2 months of age (three vaccines). Assuming a child's body contains a half liter of blood, this would put the aluminum blood level 25 times higher than the above mentioned standards. And you really don't understand why this would concern parents?

If you continue this campaign of propaganda, science censorship and condemnation of the few physicians who have enough courage to voice their concerns, you risk destroying the integrity of the entire pediatric profession.

The only way out of this mess is to come clean. Admit that mistakes have been made, help the children injured by this practice and once and for all administer a safe and thoroughly tested product.

You are right that it is because of our community speaking out- that is where the awareness comes from. However, when you get down to it, like Jim said "the problem is the problem". I think our work is not as hard as it may seem- sometimes. People can witness children (and adults) disintegrate because of a vaccine injury. People can witness the CDC who "doth protest too much" and the constant push for more and more vaccines. I think also the "mandate" for chicken pox vaccine was a big turning point for our generation who thought "now wait a second, I had chicken pox and it wasn't so bad" The medical establishment is living in the 1950s where people trusted doctors implicitly. It's like they insist upon making themselves irrelevant! In addition to telling our stories about our kids, people have witnessed this corruption first hand. And you are right JB- it's only gonna get worse.

My opinion is that this is all they have. They have brought out their big guns, used them on Andrew Wakefield and Michelle Cedillo (and our community), and it is proving to be about as effective as the Nazi's defense on D-Day. Painful to their opponent, but not even remotely stopping the tide.

This is the best they can do... Paul Offit. If they had better, if they had real answers, if they had an earnest (non absurd, real physicians with minimal and disclosed COIs) they would use them.

But they are using the fourth string team because they don't have a first string. The first string knows full well it does not have the answers and is not going to go our and make asses of themselves by making the false claims that Offit (and his side kick, Offit's ego) are willing to make.

Note that since Julie Gerberding's ridiculous handling of the Poling decision, that CDC et al has not made any public appearances to comment on this. Press release, very qualified statements on their web sites, statements from safely behind a podium in their own building, but they are not going out and perjuring themselves. They stay in the bunker and let the Offit Robot do the work for them.

I think that we need to watch for them to begin to get desperate and start pushing for forced vaccinations. Frieden has already told congress he wants to do that (just not in 2009 when he said it) We need to draw a line in the sand and say no more vaccine mandates. Do it in Chicago in May at the American Rally for Personal Rights.

..that we here highly resolve that these vaccine injured shall not have sacrificed in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

I completely agree. And the other huge change we need to make to our nomenclature is to stop using the word "alternative" so much when talking about the treatments we use. It makes us sound like hippies. This is not a mainstream vs. alternative issue. It is largely a treatment versus failure to treat issue. Wer are TREATING instead of IGNORING biologically based medical problems. Much of what we do is mainstream, many of the medications we use are FDA approved and well recognized as safe and effective. As for the science we are applying, it in not non-existent, but EARLY STAGE and CUTTING EDGE. The practices of most neurologists, gastroenterologists and immunologists we see should be referrred to as OUTDATED, OBSOLETE and INCONSISTENT WITH THE MOST CURRENT SCIENCE.

Since all the recent negative, venomous spittle coming at the vaccine-injury-causes-autism community, I have decidedly redoubled my efforts to get out the truth. I have lived with the results of vaccine injury for twelve years and I think a critical point we need to bring home to the rest of (unaffected) America is that what we are saying is that vaccines cause BRAIN DAMAGE. Not just autism. Autism is a behavioral set of symptoms arising out of BRAIN DAMAGE. Afterall, ADD used to be called MINIMAL BRAIN DAMAGE back in the 1970's. The Poling case and others have WON in court when they called their child's injury BRAIN DAMAGE!!! Encephalopathy is BRAIN DAMAGE. We need to use the term BRAIN DAMAGE every time we talk about vaccines. Only then will we get our point across to the masses. They don't understand autism. It's been bastardized by too many "experts". Give them the term BRAIN DAMAGE. They will "get" what that means real fast.

Great job!!! I called Merck yesterday regarding the MMR. I got the guy on the phone and asked if they were going to make separate vaccines again, like they had originally planned to. He told me no. (I had this info already, all of it) Then I asked him if anyone else was going to take over where they left off. He said, no that they were the only ones in the US that were making it. I asked why they would not return to the "safer" way of doing this. He said, that it science says... I cut him off. I said, well the science is wrong. He didn't seem to know what to say. So I went on to say, "In what natrual state would an 18 month old come down with measles, mumps and rubella all at the same time." He paused and then said with a sigh, "ya, I know." I wasn't done. I asked him if he realized that now that they have taken away that choice for parents, that people were just going to skip that all together. I acted as if I would have given a child the separated live viruses, but that there was no way I was falling for the 3 live viruses, let alone 4. He again said that he had to go along with what the science had found. I asked him if the "science" had done a study on vaccinated and unvaccinated children. He didn't answer. I thanked him for his time, and hung up. It really isn't just us that have figured this all out. There are many who are listening to our stories, and many of them who are not going to subject their children to this. Maybe in away, we should thank them for their stupidity.

JB: Totally agree that the tide is changing based on my own "anecdotal" (for our buddies on the other side) experience over the past 8 years.

Back then, most people had no clue about the link between vaccines/autism and gave me the typical "deer in headlights" look whenever I brought it up.

Over the last several years (due in large part to the visibility of Jenny and Jim) it is very RARE for me to bring up the issue where the individual has NOT heard of the link. And yes, that has been VERY encouraging from a personal standpoint.

Suffice to say, YOU have played a major role in this unfortunate saga and without YOUR aggressive, passionate, unwavering commitment to getting the message to the masses (including Jenny herself) who knows if we'd be this far along!

As I've said for sometime now, YOU ARE THE KING OF RUCKUS -- NO ONE DOES IT BETTER!

There was a message sent to vaccine manufacturers when the infamous "Lily Rider" was inserted into the Homeland Security act under the cover of Darkness. The U.S. government was going to back them up at all costs. The feeding frenzy was on.

My dad had a saying about greedy people "feeding at the trough" - He would say it is "like one hog waits for another" - the different companies were clamoring over themselves trying to create the next big product in vaccination.

In the early 80's I worked nights cleaning the gas-electric utility offices. I remember the President of the ocmpany complaining about the bad press that nuclear power was getting - "10 years ago everybody wanted us to build plants and now we are the enemy". The problem this guy had is that he did not build nuclear power plants becuase "people wanted them" he built them because he (and others) wanted to make lots of money.

All vaccine manufacturers want is MONEY. Future health of the human race is not the first thing on their list of to do's. Well, the hogs have been fed, its now time we take these little piggies to market.